Chapter 5: Monastic obedience (paragraphs 1-3)
With a ready step inspired by obedience they respond by their action to the voice that summons them. It is in fact, almost in one single moment that a command is uttered by the superior and the task carried to completion by the disciple, showing how much more quickly acts are accomplished together because of their reverence for God. (From para. 2 of Ch. 5 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
In one single moment the command is uttered and the task is carried out -- meditation moves me closer to living in this responsive, creative flow.
“There are two ways to live in the world—as if we were connected to it as a leaf to a tree or as if we are a universe unto ourselves. Obedience, faithful listening, is essential to the choice. A Benedictine sense of obedience is not designed to diminish a person. It is designed to connect us to the rest of the human race.” (Joan Chittister, “Daily Reading from the Rule of Benedict”). Abba, keep me connected to the human race, today.
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